Plugin comparison
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which synth to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
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Contenders
discoDSP's emulation of the Yamaha OPL2/OPL3 FM chip behind AdLib and Sound Blaster game audio, updated to v3.0 with all eight OPL3 waveforms per operator and 16x oversampling.
FM8 is Native Instruments' digital FM synthesizer with eight operators and a modern interface, the successor to FM7.
Technical matrix
| Signal | discoDSP OPL 3.0 | FM8 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $49 (free upgrade for existing owners) | $99.00 |
| Dubspot Score | — | 8.4 |
| Formats | VST, VST3, AU, AAX | Standalone, VST, VST3, AU (macOS only), AAX |
| Synthesis | — | FM (frequency modulation) synthesis |
| Operators | — | 8 operators, freely combinable in algorithms |
| Presets | — | Over 1,200 presets |
| Effects | — | 12 built-in high-quality effects |
| Platforms | — | Windows (64-bit) and macOS (64-bit) |
| Plugin formats | — | VST, VST3, AAX (Win); VST, VST3, AU, AAX (Mac) |
See the full plugin database for more comparisons.